


Eating Me Away

by direneed



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Death, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Miscarriage, No Uchiha Sarada, Therapy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-10-06
Packaged: 2018-11-08 10:53:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11080098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/direneed/pseuds/direneed
Summary: Sasuke has a baby girl with a civilian woman, only the woman ends up dying along with the girl due to birthing complications. Sasuke returns to Konoha shaken and alone. Naruto does his best to reaclimate his best friend into the village.aka Boruto Next Gen without Sarada. Also team 7 centric.





	1. Sasuke

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Eating Me Away](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/295545) by ChukenHachiko (Me). 



> This is a remix/edit of another fic I wrote a few years ago changed into a multi-chapter fic. Sasuke tries life as a civilian, and almost makes it, but ends up returning to Konoha after his girlfriend and daughter die when the girlfriend miscarries.
> 
> This story is eventually going to lead to what is now going on in the canon, but Sarada is not going to be a character, and Sasuke and Sakura are not going to have a child for much longer.

It still hurt sometimes, the spot where the cursemark had been. Despite the fact that during the events of the war, Sasuke had gotten it removed. In a way, the pain was like losing a limb in some ways. The thing that had fueled him since the tender age of twelve when Orochimaru had inflicted the curse on him. It was this cursemark that was what cost him everything, and he couldn't forget that. Sure, Konoha had forgiven him, but he hadn't had the courage to go back.

Instead of going back to the village, he had written Kakashi and simply asked to be left alone. He would quit being a ninja. He would fade into obscurity and, like the rest of the Land of Fire, pretend that Konoha and its organization did not exist, only taking notice of it when major military events occurred. He had told Kakashi he would be fine with having a tail, as long as that tail did not interfere with his personal life.

He did return to the village once, a few years after the war, to visit his former teacher after Kakashi had tried to convince him to become a ninja again. Unlike what Naruto had told him, Sasuke knew that it would never work if he chose to live in the village, and this visit had proven that. After a few days, he had disappeared once again.

He did eventually find some hope however, in a small village near the border between the Lands of Wind and Fire. Hope in the form of a dark haired female civilian named Kiko. She was his age, but had no idea about the world of ninja, only knowing that ninja were probably the worst kept secret in the world. For the first time, Sasuke was seen as a man with no past. Just a man wanting to find a home to settle down for awhile, and Kiko provided that. They lived happily for about a year, until Kiko announced her pregnancy.

Sasuke had only ever wanted children from the perspective that they would revive his clan. Beyond that, Sasuke knew he would be a terrible father. He was worried that he would make the same mistakes his own father did. Kiko did her best to tell her lover otherwise. That was the other thing too, Sasuke and Kiko never married, and Sasuke wanted to keep it that way. He loved her, but was worried about the damage that it would cause if their daughter took his name. However, his lover had insisted.

-_-_-

" _査等妥 うちは"_

_Sasuke looked at the name written in front of him._

_"No." He told Kiko and the woman glared at her lover._

_"Your whole existence for the past few years has been about reviving your clan, and now that you're being given the chance you say no." Kiko growled at him. Sasuke rolled his eyes._

_"She'll be a girl. She's going to lose her name once she marries anyway." Sasuke replied and Kiko only sighed._

_"However, she will have your- your- what's it called again?"_

_"Kekkei Genkai."_

_"Kekkei Genkai. Right. Wouldn't it make you feel at least a tiny bit good to know that you had a relative carrying your name and genetics somewhere in the world?"_

_"No. Just go to sleep Kiko." Sasuke told her. "Besides, its tradition to not use kanji when spelling names in the Uchiha clan." He told her again as she laid down beside him._

" _If i don't use the kanji, will you let her have the Uchiha name?"_

_"Sure. Whatever."_

-_-_-

Kiko did eventually have the baby, but it did not end how either of them had expected. Both mother and child had passed away during the birthing process. He looked at the graves in front of him. The graves of his daughter and wife.

_'Here lie the remains of Uchiha Sarada & Narahashi Kiko'_

There wasn't much else Sasuke was able to put on the grave stone. His life with Kiko had been incredibly short lived, and he had barely gotten to know her before she had gotten pregnant. As for Sarada, he had patronized Kiko in what he had written on both the birth certificate and the tombstone. Her name was in the kanji that Kiko had suggested, but in honor of what his wife had wanted, he had decided to give Sarada his surname.

All of that had been about a week ago, and the wounds were still fresh. He had sold the home he and Kiko had lived in, and was wandering the Land of Fire aimlessly. He had no legacy to pass on to the next generation, now that his only offspring was dead. And really, was that such a bad thing? The Uchiha clan would die out, and all of the hatred and suspicion along with it. What was so wrong with that?

Even though being alone was driving him towards suicide, especially after the death of his lover and child, he was still too self-centered to go back to the village on his own, now that his attempt at a life outside the village had ended in failure. He needed them to want him back. He desperately wanted them to fight for him to come back like they did that time so long ago, when he didn't want to go back.

A few days after his final visit to the grave of his lover and daughter, he stepped through Konoha's gate. It was the middle of the night. Peace had left the village gate mostly unguarded, one guard sat in the booth. The guard stood when he heard the shadow approach.

"Who goes there? Please present your ID." The voice ordered with a yawn. Sasuke stepped into the light. His raven colored black hair had grown out, and he was dressed all in a long black cloak. A sword in its hilt sat on his hip, a small Uchiha creast was on the hilt. Sasuke recognized the guard as he handed him the paperwork, and the guard recognized him as well before even looking at the photo ID. "Sasuke? Uchiha Sasuke?" The guard, who Sasuke now recognized as Nara Shikamaru, asked.

"Yes. I've returned." Sasuke replied and Shikamaru groaned lazily as he got up from his chair.

"Well Sasuke, I think you know what I need to do." Shikamaru told him as he produced some handcuffs from within the dark booth. "Out of respect for Naruto though, I'm not gonna report your appearance officially." Shikamaru explained as he handcuffed Sasuke. Once that was done, Shikamaru made a sign for a shadow clone to appear. "C'mon. We're going to the Hokage tower." Shikamaru told him. Sasuke nodded. The two walked through the village in silence. As they were mounting the stairs to the Hokage's office, Shikamaru finally spoke. "How long has it been? Thirteen years?" Shikamaru asked him. Sasuke nodded.

"Yeah..." Sasuke replied. Shikamaru opened the door to the Hokage's office. Sasuke looked around. It looked about the same as it did the few times he had been here before, except there was one section of the room cordoned off, with a flimsy door leading into the area. Shikamaru led Sasuke towards this area.

"When Naruto started to spend a lot of time here, he had this area created." Shikamaru explained. "Of course, we lucked out in that this was one night that I was able to convince him to go home early." Shikamaru said as he opened the door. In the small section of the office, there was a cot, similar to the collapsible ones that some escort teams would bring along when they had an important client, as well as a collapsible wardrobe which held some changes of clothes and a set of pajamas for Naruto. "Sleep here. I'll have a messenger go by Naruto's place in the morning to let him know what happened." Sasuke sighed as he collapsed onto the cot. He felt his eyes closing and he was soon asleep. He woke up with a little kid in his face shortly before daybreak. A kid who looked an awful lot like Naruto.

"Do you want something?" he asked the little boy.

"What are you doing in 'tou-chan's office?" the boy asked. Sasuke sighed.

"The better question is what are you doing in your father's office without him?" Sasuke asked the boy. The boy's face turned pink.

"I-I...I wanted to play a joke. I got up early so I could sneak into his office and play the joke. I'm only in the academy still, but I could sense your chakra in here." The boy explained. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I'm Uzumaki Boruto, and you look an awful lot like that one guy who was on my Dad's genin team. The weird dark one who betrayed the village." Sasuke cringed at this. As the saying went, out of the mouths of babes...

"Boruto! How many times must your mother and I tell you. The Hokage's office is not a play area." A familiar voice rambled from the hall. A few seconds later, there was the sound of rushing footsteps. Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw Naruto in the doorway of the section of the divided office. "Sasuke..." Naruto said. "Shikamaru told me you'd be here, but I didn't think you'd actually stay the night and wait for me to get here." Naruto said to him. Sasuke got up and looked into the eyes of his "best friend."

"It's time to come home. For good this time. Will you help me Naruto?" Sasuke asked. Sasuke was not prepared for the sudden embrace from the other man. He heard his voice, thick with joyful tears.

"Always Sasuke. Always."


	2. Naruto

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto begins his plans of reintroducing Sasuke into Konoha society.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided to do mainly a Team 7 POV, with perspectives rotating with every chapter. When it's called for, I'll add other perspectives here and there like I did in this chapter.

Once Naruto had let go of Sasuke, he had lightly shoved his son for his rude comment.

"How many times must I tell you? Sasuke did not betray the village." Naruto told his son.

"But Jii-chan said-" Boruto replied. Naruto sighed. He was constantly warring with his father-in-law when it came to some of the finer moral aspects when it came to raising his children. Despite this however, Naruto insisted on Sasuke's status as a war hero.

However, that didn't mean that Sasuke and Naruto didn't have their own falling out shortly after the war. Kakashi had given Sasuke his pardon, Sasuke had taken it, and life in the village drove on. Sakura and Naruto both knew Sasuke was unstable, but Naruto had become busy with his work at the Hokage's office (Kakashi had hired him as a part-time assistant to begin grooming him for the office), and Sakura had been in the process of establishing a newly adapted and researched children's wing of the Konoha hospital. They just didn't have the time to give Sasuke the attention he needed to properly recover.

Naruto regretted it of course, and he knew Sakura did too, but what else could they do? They had tried getting through to Sasuke, but he still left again soon after his pardon had been given. He had promised to come back, but both Sakura and Naruto were devastated when Sasuke had written a few months later, informing Kakashi that all he really wanted was to be left alone in his misery. He had wanted to give civilian living a shot, and Kakashi could send a tail after him if he wanted, as long as they didn't interfere with his personal life.

The last Naruto had heard was that Sasuke was with a civilian woman, living in a village close to the border of the Lands of Wind and Fire and about to have a baby. He hadn't felt comfortable telling Sakura about that, despite the fact that he knew she was over him. Naruto looked down at his son. Before he would begin his chat with Sasuke, he felt it was best for Boruto to head out.

"Boruto. Go ahead and head to school. I'll see you after awhile okay?" Naruto said to his son, his parental orders being phrased as delicately and politely as possible in order to placate his son. Boruto was stubborn yes, but he knew better then to blatantly disobey his father when they were in his office.

"Yes 'tou-chan..." Boruto muttered and left the office. Before he forgot however, the respectful manners of a clan heir shined through in his parting words to Sasuke. "Nice to meet you Sasuke-san. I look forward to hearing some of your stories." Boruto said to Sasuke with a bow. Sasuke ducked his head back in response, and without another word, Boruto had scampered off to school. Naruto turned to Sasuke.

"I have another, a little girl named Himawari. She's about two years younger then him." Naruto told Sasuke. That lent him the perfect segway into getting to know Sasuke again. "Speaking of that, you just had a child yourself didn't you?" Naruto asked, but frowned when Sasuke's expression froze on his face.

"...no. Her and her mother passed away during the birth. It happened a week ago." Sasuke explained and smiled meekly at Naruto. "That's part of why I wanted to come back. I left the shinobi world to leave behind the grief, but clearly, you're going to lose people close to you whether their civilian or not. I might as well spend time with the people I care about before they pass too." Naruto frowned at this. Everyone was effected by death, whether they be ninja, civilian, or samurai. However, he couldn't really blame Sasuke for wanting to walk the path where more death was less likely to happen. Maybe he could get Sasuke to talk to Tsunade.

Ever since her retirement, Tsunade had been taking on a variety of different sorts of medical cases, some he knew were in fact psychiatric and psychological, considering he was married to one of Tsunade's patients. (Hinata had been seeing Tsunade for her anxiety since she was a teenager, and Naruto had only found out about it shortly after they started dating). Maybe he could convince Tsunade to talk to Sasuke? Of course, there was the matter of getting Sasuke to go in the first place. But then there was Sakura...

Naruto knew that Tsunade took doctor-patient privilege seriously, so as long as they played this just right, Sakura wouldn't find out until Sasuke was ready to tell her. Naruto's resolve was strengthened as he looked at Sasuke's grim expression.

"Well Sasuke, you want my help, and I have a plan for you..." Naruto said. "I'm going to take you to a doctor..." Sasuke's face was screwed up in horror and embarrassment, thinking about which doctor Naruto was thinking of. "NOT Sakura. But Tsunade. She's been doing some independent medical work ever since the end of the war and her retirement. She's not affiliated with Konoha's hospital and keeps her own records, so there's no way for anyone to know about it unless you choose to say something." Naruto explained. Sasuke frowned at this, but Naruto carried on.

"As for your living arrangements, while huge chunks of it were sold and torn down, both Kakashi and I made it a point to keep the main house of the Uchiha compound intact in the event that you chose to come back. As for work, it may take some doing with the council, but I'm sure I can get you reinstated as a shinobi again, provided Tsunade can provide proof that you are recovering from and or living with whatever mental illness you are currently struggling with. That's the one catch with your sessions with Tsunade. She is to report your progress to me and me alone. That fair?" Naruto explained. Sasuke nodded.

"When's your next council meeting?" Sasuke asked Naruto.

"Next month. You won't have made a lot of progress, but enough that I think Tsunade may be able to foresee your possible recovery. There'll be multiple weekly sessions, but I think Granny will get over it." Naruto replied. Sasuke chuckled and Naruto embraced him again. "It is wonderful to have you back Sasuke. We've missed you." Naruto said as he let his friend go. He made a quick sign and a shadow clone appeared and he spoke to it. "Get started on today's work. I'm going to go take Sasuke to Granny and run a few errands before I can be back in the office." Naruto told the shadow clone. He gestured for Sasuke to follow him out of the office as the shadow clone began to get to work.

-_-_-

The former kage lived in a luxurious neighborhood near the Hokage estate. Kakashi lived next door to Tsunade, so that would be Naruto's first stop in his line of quick errands that needed to be taken care of. He knocked loudly on the front door of Tsunade's house, with Shizune opening the door after the fourth knock. The woman still wore her pajamas, and yawned loudly.

"Naruto? What are you doing here so early?" Shizune asked Naruto.

"Is Granny up yet?" Naruto asked her. Shizune shook her head. Naruto barged past her hollering for Tsunade.

"Naruto-kun!" Shizune called after the man. Naruto grinned at her as she chased after him. Ever since he became Hokage, Shizune never called him anything but 'Naruto-sama.' It took a lot for him to get her to call him anything else then that, so whenever Naruto got her to call him anything else, he considered it a victory. They both looked up when they heard a door down the hallway slam open. Tsunade stumbled out of the room, hung over.

"Naruto! What the hell?!" Tsunade demanded of the man.

"Granny! I have a patient for you!" Naruto declared. Tsunade grimaced, but looked behind Naruto.

"Uchiha Sasuke?" Tsunade asked him. Naruto nodded cheerfully.

"Yup! He's back in the village for good this time! Can you see him as a patient? Make sure he's psychologically stable for missions? I need an outlook and treatment plan for him by the council meeting next month." Naruto told her. Tsunade blinked, processing this. "I'm getting back at you for all the shitty missions you sent me on while you were Hokage." Naruto told her, only to get a response of a punch to the head.

"I'll do it. And I assume the Hokage's office is going to foot the bill?" Tsunade replied simply. Naruto grinned at her and nodded. "I assume Sakura doesn't know he's back in the village yet." Tsunade asked Naruto. The man shook his head.

"Nope. And when it comes to evaluating him, your discretion would be greatly appreciated." Naruto responded. Tsunade looked at Sasuke.

"Of course. As for you Uchiha, please come here tomorrow at..." Tsunade trailed off, and Shizune made up for it by consulting the other woman's planner that sat on a nearby desk.

"...noon." Shizune finished. Sasuke and Naruto both nodded.

"Alright, well, that's all we came by for." Naruto said as he headed back out of the house, just as unceremoniously as he entered. He felt Tsunade's irritation bore into the back of his skull as he left.

-_-_-

Tsunade sighed and stretched as she watched the current Hokage prance out of her house. Who did he think he was?! Well, while psychology wasn't her cup of sake, she couldn't help but feel excited about the prospect of digging into the mind of Sasuke Uchiha. A seasoned terrorist and missing nin, but one of the two saviors of the world. She was looking forward to tomorrow.

-_-_-

As the two men walked through the streets of the village in amiable silence, Naruto was bursting at the seams.

"Ne, Sasuke, can I tell Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto begged. Sasuke rolled his eyes. Of course, it would be uncharacteristic of Naruto to NOT tell those two. Sasuke only shrugged.

"Hn." "Whatever...do what you want. Not like I can stop you anyway." Was what Naruto translated the noise to.

"Alright! We're gonna have a party tonight then! You, Sakura-chan, and Kakashi-sensei'll come over and Hinata'll cook something great! I'll let her know." Naruto said as he made a sign for a shadow clone who ran back in the direction of the Kage neighborhood to go inform Hinata about what was going on. After awhile, the two made it to their destination, the main house of the former Uchiha compound. "This is where I'll have to leave you." Naruto told Sasuke. "Don't worry about any issues with the inside of the house." Naruto added. "Both Kakashi-sensei and I both made sure the inside of the house was well maintained and no one broke in." Naruto said. Sasuke nodded. Naruto left with a final wave, before sprinting off towards the hospital.

-_-_-

When Naruto got to the hospital, he headed straight for Sakura's office in the children's wing of the hospital. He hurriedly knocked on Sakura's office door.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan! Open up! I have something huge to tell you!" Naruto called through the door. Eventually, the door opened suddenly, with Naruto almost hitting Sakura on the forehead in his excitement. Sakura glared at her former teammate and yanked him by the arm into her office. Naruto only grinned as she sat him down in the chair.

"What is it Naruto? I haven't even had my coffee yet!!" Sakura declared indignantly. Naruto only smiled.

"It's Sasuke. Sakura-chan, Sasuke is back in the village, and he's planning on staying in the village."

-_-_-

Meanwhile, outside of Sakura's office window...

When it came to the ANBU who were tasked on guarding the Hokage, with every Hokage came a change in mask. When two particular ANBU (one male, one female) were tasked with bodyguard duty for the Hokage himself, they were required to change their animal mask during their time on duty as the bodyguards, with their masks reflecting the current Hokage's signature animal.

Fox-kun and Fox-chan were standing guard outside of the hospital window where the Hokage currently was. Fox-kun chuckled when he heard Fox-chan cringe at the treatment of the Hokage.

"Why do they manhandle him so?" Fox-chan asked her partner. "Why haven't you done anything any of the times?" Fox-kun only chuckled.

"When someone with malicious intent is trying to hurt the Hokage, you'll know."


	3. Sakura

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura hears word of Sasuke's return. And suffers from the beginnings of a midlife crisis.

For Sakura, much like Naruto, her life had been pretty eventful after the war. She finished learning under Tsunade and eventually became a doctor in her own right. She had been seeing patients on her own since her twentieth birthday. Her specific speciality had been pediatrics. Her and Ino had established a stronger pediatric department of the hospital shortly after the war, originally intended for primarily mental treatment, but the two women had ended up having more involvement in physical treatment too. When it came to treatment of young ninja from academy to early chunin age, Sakura and Ino were their doctors.

On this particular day however, Sakura had barely put her coffee cup to her lips before Ino slammed into her office.

"Sa-ku-ra. Guess what Shikamaru told me this morning while we were dropping the kids off at the academy?" Ino asked her. The Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans all lived in the same area, so it wasn't out of the question for Ino to see Choji or Shikamaru first thing in the morning. Sakura moved the coffee away from her lips and grimaced.

"Who?" Sakura asked, impatience clear on her face. Ino knew better then to put it off at that point.

"Sasuke is back. He came in the middle of the night last night. Temari had him drop off Shikadai before she let him sleep after his guard duty last night." Ino explained. Sakura barely avoided dropping her coffee cup on the desk. "He said Naruto is with him now. I'm sure he's gonna come by though, so act surprised when Naruto tells you okay?" Ino told her. Sakura nodded.

"Yeah. Thanks Ino." Sakura replied. Ino smiled genuinely at Sakura.

"Look at it this way, this is your chance to finally get that date we always wanted." She teased Sakura. Sakura scoffed. A date with Sasuke? There was a part of her, the Inner-Sakura part that was still twelve, who jumped for joy at the thought of Sasuke being home. The adult however knew that to pursue Sasuke now would be insane. She still loved him, but she wasn't going to make any decisions on trying to pursue him until she knew he wanted to pursue her. She was alright with unrequited love for the time being.

She had been on a few dates after the war. None of them really stuck long term, except Lee. That had gone on for about a year before they parted ways amiably. She vaguely understood what it would be like to be in Sasuke's place after she dated Lee. He was a perfect gentleman, but it came to be too much, and the pedestal he put her on was too high.

"Maybe..." Sakura finally said in response. She finally snapped out of her thoughts long enough to shove Ino out of her office. "If anything happens, I'm not telling you, pervert. Now go away so I can have my cup of coffee." Ino only chuckled as she made her way down the hallway outside of the office, waving lazily behind her. She took a sip of her coffee as she leaned against her open doorframe and grimaced when she realized her drink was no longer at its optimal temperature. She hoisted herself off the doorframe and shut the door behind her as she reentered her office.

Since Sakura had her own office, she didn't require a large coffeemaker. Instead, she had one of the newer models that only brewed one cup at a time. Sakura poured her mug into the sink (her office did occasionally serve as an exam room if needed), and set another coffee to brew.

As her new coffee began to brew, Sakura leaned against the counter, flipping through a patient file without wandering too close to her desk. As she was finishing one page, there was a hurried knocking (banging really) at her office door. 

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan! Open up! I have something huge to tell you!" Sakura heard the familiar voice of her former teammate through the door. She opened the door suddenly, and Naruto almost hit her on the forehead in his excitement. Sakura glared at her former teammate and yanked him by the arm into her office. Naruto only grinned as she sat him down in one of the chairs in front of the desk.

"What is it Naruto? I haven't even had my coffee yet!!" Sakura declared indignantly as she finally got a sip of the coffee she had been wanting to drink all morning. Naruto only smiled.

"It's Sasuke. Sakura-chan, Sasuke is back in the village, and he's planning on staying in the village."

Sakura nodded mutely.

"I know." Sakura said simply. "Ino came in right before you got here." Naruto pouted dramatically.

"Why's that Ino gotta ruin my fun!" Naruto declared. Sakura rolled her eyes and sipped her coffee.

"Where is he now?" Sakura asked Naruto.

"I took him back to the Uchiha main house." Naruto said to her. "He's getting the house set up right now. I was wanting to have a party at my place tonight with all of us. You, me, Sasuke, and Kakashi-sensei."

"Sure." Sakura replied. Naruto grinned broadly at her.

"Great! I'll see you!" Naruto replied, and the look on his face looked more like the twelve-year-old boy she had met as a girl, and not like the man who had become Hokage. He left her office and Sakura sipped at her coffee, the file opened to some young chunin her and Ino had been treating for PTSD after a mission that involved guarding a trade caravan as it passed through the mountains.

She thought about the dreams she had when she was sixteen, still smitten with Sasuke. Of a family life, them and Naruto going on missions as jonin. A girl with red glasses and short black hair.

She wished she had it in her to love someone and to just have them love her back, and have the pedestals they put each other on to be at the same height. Surely it was too much to have Sasuke reciprocate her feelings?

She wanted a family. As she slowly trudged towards midlife, and it looked like she was going to live a long one, considering the peace that had fell after the war, she wanted something-- or someone-- to keep her company when her strength wained and she could no longer keep up with the intensity of the hospital shifts.

Sakura's eyes flicked to the little boy who came into her office.

"Yuino-kun! You're early for your appointment! Have a seat okay? Let me put this up!"


End file.
